Subaru Faces Class-Action Suit for Excessive Oil Consumption

Subaru of America could face a class-action lawsuit over its alleged inaction regarding excessive oil consumption in its most popular models. Those involved with the proposed suit claim that Subaru knew about the excessive oil consumption and failed to inform buyers, even going so far as to refuse warranty coverage on oil consumption-based engine repairs.

According to the suit, some buyers have been stuck with $8000 repair bills just for the consumption issue; this repair cost does not include some reported mechanical damage to oxygen sensors, spark plugs, and catalytic converters.

Subaru spokesman Michael McHale told USA Today the following about the issue in question: “While we believe the oil consumption of our vehicles to be within acceptable levels, we continually work to reduce the amount of consumable goods, such as oil, that our vehicles require to operate."

The initial complainant is Keith Yaeger, a 2014 Subaru Forester owner from California who has experienced issues related to the excessive oil loss, and former Subaru-owner Michael Schuler, who was forced to trade in his 2013 Outback at a monetary loss as a result of the oil consumption.

The suit claims Subaru released four technical bulletins during September and December of 2013, which outlined that the affected models were “experiencing abnormally high levels of engine oil consumption that warranted an intricate repair process to properly remedy," and identified "unanticipated wear of the oil control piston rings as the root cause of the oil consumption defect."

With the bulletins recognizing the problem, the suit claims that "Subaru both acknowledged the oil consumption defect and suggested a repair... while all, or nearly all, of the (affected models) should still be covered under Subaru's powertrain warranty."